US Firm Seeks Acquisition of Nigeria's Refineries
From Cletus Akwaya in Abuja
An American firm, Com-merce Petrol, has indicated interest to wholly take over the nation's four refineries located in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna.
Under the proposal, the company would acquire the refineries, turn them around to attain maximum capacity utilisation and then sell 45 per cent of their equity to Nigerians and five per cent to workers of the refineries over an agreed period of time as may be negotiated with the Nigerian authorities.
Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promo-tion Commission (NIPC), Engr. Mustafa Bello, who disclosed this to THISDAY yesterday in Abuja said the company had written to President Olusegun Obasanjo expressing interest to acquire all the refineries, which have been put up for privatisation by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).
Based on the letter, Obasanjo directed NIPC to hold a meeting with the company to discuss its proposal.
Accordingly, a meeting was scheduled yesterday at the NIPC between the investment promotion agency and the American firm. Also expected at the meeting were representatives of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, and National Committee for Bitumen Development.
But the meeting could not hold as neither representatives of the American oil company nor their Nigerian partners showed up at the conference room of the NIPC, venue for the meeting.
Bello who briefed newsmen said the meeting had been put off for another date as the representatives of Commerce did not show up.
He disclosed that the company had met earlier with the Presidential Committee for Bitumen Development, where some issues, which cropped up, needed to be resolved.
Fielding a question, Bello said he was aware that the process for privatisation of the refineries was on and the date for expression of interest had closed but added that the NIPC would refer the matter to BPE for technical discussions.
"We have been instructed to talk to them, listen to them and know how they intend to go about it but certainly we have to refer them to BPE to conclude with them," he added.
He disclosed that NIPC was working on a new investment policy that would supply information to potential investors in all sectors of the economy.
He said the policy might take over a year to be prepared, adding that private sector operators and experts on investment matters will be involved in order to make the new policy stand the test of time.
Bello who is also a member of the Presidential Committee on Trade Malpractices said the report on the committee will be ready in one year's time as members of the organised private sector including Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Airlines Operators of Nigeria among others, have been requested to submit position papers.
He explained however that for trade malpractices to be tackled head on, new weights and measures will have to be developed and monitored to ensure that consumers were not cheated over products or services.
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